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Authorities in Nicaragua are trumpeting their counternarcotics efforts, which they say have kept “cartels” out of the country. But a series of prosecutions of alleged crime bosses shows that sophisticated, large-scale drug trafficking groups do indeed operate in the Central American nation…

I joined Senior Investigators Deborah Bonello and Héctor Silva Ávalos for InSight Crime’s weekly Facebook Live session today, where we discussed new White House estimates of coca production in Colombia, the future of the Sinaloa Cartel after “El Chapo,” and the close ties between elites and organized crime in Latin America. You can watch the full video at this link, or embedded below:

New US government estimates of coca production in Colombia indicate the South American country is growing more of the drug-producing crop than ever before, a development that is likely driving changes in underworld dynamics across the Americas and the globe…

An investigation by Spanish authorities has uncovered an alleged cocaine trafficking network headed by a Mexican citizen linked to several different drug cartels, shedding light on the “franchise model” Mexican crime groups use to traffic drugs to Europe…

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has named a man US authorities accused of drug trafficking as the country’s new Interior minister, a move that further politicizes a series of drug cases brought by the United States against Venezuelan officials…

Colombian, Italian and US authorities collaborated in a massive round-up of nearly 150 suspected members of a multicontinental drug trafficking ring, highlighting the deep links between Italian criminal organizations and Latin America’s drug trade…

Much of the South American cocaine destined for global markets flows through Brazil according a UN report, and there are a number of factors that make the former Portuguese colony an ideal launching point for the drug’s international distribution…